yes, some of you are probably still recovering from the madness of coachella but this weekend another huge music festival begins – the new orleans jazz festival! this isn’t your typical festival though — it spans 9 days and is all about celebrating the incredibly rich musical heritage and culture of new orleans. there are some pretty impressive musicians playing this year- including dr. john, the black crowes, the funky meters, simon & garfunkel, my morning jacket, the allman brothers, widespread panic, aretha franklin, pearl jam, jeff beck, van morrison, b.b. king and richie havens…just to name a few :) in addition, there will be arts and crafts galore, and all of this is on top of the mysterious, voodoo tinged atmosphere that already exists in one of the most fascinating cities of the united states.

last week’s poll turnout was amazing! 1,525 votes and only 9 votes separated the winner (girl number 5) from second place (girl number one) – and in case you didn’t figure it out, the winner was sandy and second place was candy :)

building 543, which holds our cafeteria, had a ton of great stuff going on today for earth day – starting with this beautiful display of flowers that greeted everyone who walked in the door! i thought it was a really nice touch that the flowers were arranged in water bottles :) there were plant potting and vertical garden workshops hosted by terrain, reusable water bottles and bags for sale, stations for recycling batteries and cell phones, and lots of yummy organic treats!

our topanga, california store had a tea party over the weekend to celebrate their second birthday – check out these great pics from the event! in addition to tea and treats they had a model in store to give styling ideas, and fp girl karla hand painted frames and wrapped them in green tissue paper as adorable little gifts for anyone who made a purchase :)

check out all the girls who came out for the event in their cute outfits below!

to celebrate earth day i wanted to post some nature photography by anna verlet. her photos capture the mysticism and magical aura of nature in a way that draws you into the landscapes…the fog in the forest is tangible and the reflection of the sun dancing across the lake glows with warmth. get outside today and appreciate the magic and wonder that is planet earth!

a couple of cool events are going on to celebrate earth day, check them out below.

in the spirit of earth day, i wanted to post some amazing artwork made out of items we would normally consider trash. i found these first pieces particularly inspiring because the artist, virgina fleck, took something associated with waste (plastic bags) and created something spiritual and beautiful – mandalas. a mandala is a universal, non-religious tool for meditation that is composed of carefully chosen symbols and imagery with a specific meaning said to provide guidance. upon closer examination of these mandalas you might recognize some familiar symbols from stores you might shop at, but at first glance i would never realize what these were made of. i would absolutely hang one on my wall!

now these are plastic bags you would want to use over and over again! they are created by artist josh blackwell, who carefully weaves thread and other materials into plastic bags to create these “plastic baskets” as he calls them. they definitely take on the characteristics of a pretty basket you could take to the farmer’s market and fill with fresh fruits and vegetables! who would’ve thought a plastic bag could be cute?

ok, this might be considered a bit gross, but i found it so impressive i had to share. artist jesus bubu negron created a rug for an art installation out of cigarette butts. he actually paid street cleaners to collect the stubs, which he unrolled and weaved together. maybe not something you’d want in your home, but amazing nonetheless!

We’ve landed in California and are ready to hit one of the best Music festivals around.

The anxiety was unbearable @ the airport… so we thought the best way to beat this before the 5 hour flight was to wash it away with crabby fries and Blue Moon beer. My did it work… followed by a blast of our pre Coachella playlists on our iphones!

We packed light as we figured there will be no time for 5 hour dress ups. Denim shorts, crop tops neon lingerie and yes an array of the free people bandeaus. Oh, and one must not forget the leather jacket and wayfarers. You can’t do a music festival without having that little touch of rock ‘n roll to your attire.

We landed in California and packed up our SUV and drove down to Santa Monica (where we were staying for the night) with Jimi Hendrix vibrating the air around us.

We arrived at our destination tired and nauseous. However, the flood lit pool that welcomed us was enough to perk our spirits up again. Spag ball and red wine followed with chats of our next day plans.

free people is looking for a concept intern for this summer! the number one requirement for this position is that you must be UBER free people!!!

responsibilities include researching for concept topics and gathering tears, and assisting with creating concept boards.

this person must be very organized in order to keep track of images and scanned files, self-motivated, driven and hard-working. must be proficient in photoshop and with powerpoint programs, and an interest in art, social media and music would be welcome attributes!

students who are interested in this opportunity should submit an 8.5 x 11 pdf of an inspiration board with magazine tears for the free people brand. you need to apply online (right here) but please make sure to submit a resume and inspiration board!

**update**

here’s some more info for you all:

deadline for submissions: april 30th

start date: early june and will go to august

you do not need to still be in school but a recent grad

it is a full-time, paid internship

you can upload the inspiration board in a PDF

you are encouraged NOT to use all FP tears.

it can be magazine tears or computer images. whatever you want to use to show your interpretation of the FP girl!!

non-US citizens can apply but you will have to supply your student visa!

Chloe-Apr 21, 2014, 12:15AM

Amazing opportunity! Love everything about FP. Can't wait to apply!

Caitlin Pilgrim-Mar 06, 2013, 2:05PM

Since it's uploaded as a PDF if we make a hard copy of it and then take a high quality photograph is that sufficient or will it lower our chances?
thanks!

the winner of the space 15 twenty spring outfit contest is adalinda! i love how she took a simple outfit and played it up with accessories – she looks comfy and stylish! as winner, she received a gift card and her outfit was featured on the space 15 twenty blog.

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